(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plasma display panel (PDP). More particularly, the present invention relates to a PDP having an enhanced arrangement of pixels and electrodes that enables higher integration of pixels.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Generally, a PDP is a display device which excites phosphors with vacuum ultraviolet rays radiated from plasma obtained through gas discharging, and displays desired images by visible light such as red (R), green (G), and blue (B) colors generated by the excited phosphors. The PDP has been spotlighted as a flat panel display for television and industrial purposes with several advantages. The PDP can realize a very large screen size of 60″ or more with a thickness of 10 cm or less, and involves excellent color representation, without image distortion due to viewing angles, since it is a self emissive display, such as a cathode ray tube (CRT). The PDP further involves high productivity and low production cost as it is made in a more simplified manner as compared to a liquid crystal display (LCD).
A three-electrode surface-discharge type of PDP may be considered as an example of a typical PDP. The three-electrode surface-discharge type of PDP includes a first substrate having sustain electrodes and scan electrodes on the same surface, and a second substrate disposed apart from the first substrate by a predetermined distance and having address electrodes elongated perpendicular to the direction of the sustain and scan electrodes. A discharge gas is filled between the two substrates of the PDP. For each discharge cell of the PDP, whether the discharge cell will be discharged is determined by a discharge between the scan electrode and address electrode corresponding thereto, and a sustain discharge that actually displays a required image occurs between the sustain electrode and scan electrode formed on the same plane.
FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are top plan views illustrating exemplary arrangements of pixels and electrodes in conventional PDPs. FIG. 5 shows a stripe structure of barrier ribs of a PDP, and FIG. 6 shows a delta structure of barrier ribs of a PDP. FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 respectively illustrate only partial views of display areas of PDPs, and thus it should be understood that the indices n and m in FIGS. 5 and 6 may respectively indicate arbitrary integers.
As shown in FIG. 5, in the PDP with the stripe structure of barrier ribs, discharge cells are respectively formed between sustain electrodes Xn to Xn+3 and scan electrodes Yn to Yn+3 that are disposed opposing each other, forming a discharge gap therebetween. Each pixel 61 of such a PDP includes three adjacent discharge cells 61R, 61G, 61B of respectively red, green, and blue colors. Address electrodes 65 are formed to cross corresponding discharge cells among the discharge cells 61R, 61G, 61B forming the pixels 61.
Therefore, regarding sixteen pixels 61 shown in the drawing, twelve address electrodes 65 (that is, Am, Am+1, . . . , Am+11) are required in total since four pixels are arranged in respective rows and each pixel requires three address electrodes. Further, as the resolution of PDPs becomes higher, discharge cells are required to be arranged more densely. Accordingly, adjacent address electrodes 65 are required to be disposed closer together, and in this case, capacitance C between the adjacent address electrodes increases resulting in an increase of energy consumption (which is calculated as CV2f) of the PDP.
In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, in the PDP with the delta-shaped rib structure, discharge cells form separate spaces partitioned by barrier ribs. Each pixel 71 of such a PDP includes three adjacent discharge cells 71R, 71G, 71B of respectively red, green, and blue colors that are arranged in a triangular pattern. Address electrodes 75 are formed to cross corresponding discharge cells among the discharge cells 71R, 71G, 71B forming the pixels 71.
In this case also, regarding sixteen pixels 71 shown in the drawing, twelve address electrodes 75 (that is, Am, Am+1, . . . , Am+11) are required in total since four pixels are arranged in respective rows and each pixel requires three address electrodes. In this case also, discharge cells are required to be arranged more densely as the resolution of PDPs becomes higher. Consequently, adjacent address electrodes 75 are required to be disposed closer together, and in this case, capacitance C between the adjacent address electrodes increases resulting in an increase of energy consumption (which is calculated as CV2f) of the PDP.